Where the Crawdads Sing is the story of Catherine Danielle Clark, nicknamed Kya, who is the youngest in the Clark household. Her Pa is a drunkard and gambler who physically abuses her Ma. The story begins with Ma walking out of their house, and then one by one, the older children doing the same thing, until the only one who’s left behind — for lack of having anywhere to go and no money — is six-year-old, still not able to read, Kya. The year was 1952.